Effects of Spice on Brains and Bodies

People who use Spice sometimes end up in the emergency room because of a heart attack, kidney damage, or seizures (when your body starts twitching and jerking uncontrollably).

These are some problems that Spice can cause:

Sickness

Spice can cause headaches. It can also make you throw up.

Heart Attack

Spice can cause your heart to beat faster and your blood pressure to go up. This can give you a heart attack, which could lead to death.

Overdose

People can overdose on Spice. More people are going to the emergency room for Spice overdoses. Spice can cause death.

Addiction

You can get addicted to Spice after using it for a while. Over time, it can change the way your brain works. If you stop using Spice, your body can get confused and you can start to feel really sick. This makes it hard to stop. This is called addiction.

When the high goes away, you can have headaches or feel irritable, nervous, or depressed. You have strong cravings to take more Spice to feel good again.

At this time, doctors and scientists have not tested medicines or counseling to treat a Spice addiction. But there are treatment programs available that focus on changing behaviors.